Handbook of Heritage, Community, and Native American Languages in the United States: Research, Policy, and Educational Practice

Timely and comprehensive, this state-of-the-art publication provides an overview of major issues related to heritage, community, and Native American languages in the United States.

Based on the work of noted authors, this publication draws extensively from a variety of perspectives – the speakers; use of the languages in the home, community and wider society; patterns of acquisition, retention, loss, and revitalization of the languages, and specific education efforts devoted to developing stronger connections with and proficiency in them. Contributions on language use, programs and instruction, and policy focus on issues that are applicable to many heritage language contexts.

Offering a foundational perspective for students, researchers, and stakeholders of heritage, community, and Native American languages as they are learned in the classroom, transmitted across generations in families, and used in communities, the volume provides background on the history and current status of many languages in the linguistics mosaic of U.S. society and stresses the importance of drawing on these languages as societal, community, and individual resources, while also noting their strategic importance within the context of globalization. 2014. 410 pages.